It should be a matter of time before the life of such a musical giant will be transferred to Yinmu. This filming plan was brewed for a long time, everything was done before Ray Charles died, and his life almost ended at the same time when the film was released. So the story of the final film just condensed his most glorious life journey, from the beginning of Seattle to the world to the end of drug rehabilitation in 1966. In fact, the character biographical film is not easy to shoot. The plot of the story depends on everything that happens to the real character. There should not be too much artistic processing, otherwise it will deviate from the prototype, attract dissatisfaction from the fans, or copy the real character too much. All of this makes people feel boring, and it looks like a documentary to enjoy, such as Michael Man’s "Boxing King Ali". My favorite biographical film is "Jackie and Hillary" (also known as "She is Lonely Than Fireworks"), but it is too straightforward and artistic to reflect the dark side of a musical prodigy, and it also attracts countless doubts and Blame. Therefore, biographical films are really difficult to handle. Similarly, the excitement of the film also depends on the excitement of the biographical character itself.
Chinese biographical films have a common problem in the past. The characters they portray are usually high-quality, too perfect and divorced from reality. For such an excellent musician as Ray Charles, I am afraid that he will be praised for his talent, but "Ray" still pays attention to the portrayal of its dark side. Such as his drug history, and his lecherous side, of course, all aspects show an artist in all directions, can restore himself more truly, the coexistence of shortcomings and advantages is the inevitable existence of human beings. Of course, as a film with the main theme of the United States, generally speaking, praise is greater than criticism.
The film's narrative style is very ordinary, chronologically reappearing the process of Lei's transformation from an unknown man to a famous star. Of course, it seems a bit too dull and boring to reproduce a character in this way, so his childhood, a poor black child, and his blind life process are repeatedly reproduced in the film in a flashback manner. Among them, the emphasis is on the teaching of Ray Charles' mother to him, and the death of his brother Henry, which became the haze of his life. These few childhood experiences have a particularly important influence on the principles and direction of his later life. First of all, his mother was doing laundry because of poverty, and when she encountered unfairness, she rallied to fight. These and his subsequent constant struggles with the villains who embezzled his interests have been alternately marching in the film, highlighting his principle of fighting inequality. On the other hand, as a blind person, he has always believed in what his mother taught him to remember everything by voice, and he had to rely on himself for everything, which made him a strong character towards success. I think the most successful treatment of the film is to organically combine the guilt that Ray Charles caused his brother to drown and die in his childhood with his drug use. Maybe we don’t know whether the real Ray Charles is like this, but this kind of artistic treatment seems to be wrong. The guilt and salvation of the characters are formed as a unity in the whole of the film.
Pursuing equality and believing in everything about one's own individuality, although playing an important role in Ray Charles's success in music career, also affects some negative elements in his life. Exploring and trying is an innovative spirit in music, and Ray Charles has also embarked on a drug-taking journey for this. This journey is not bright, and it seems that it will discredit such a music giant. The filmmakers still find him. For a reason, the haze of childhood made him always have fear and guilt in his heart, and he became dependent on drugs in order to escape. Water illusions continue to appear in the film, repeatedly emphasizing the impact of this reason on Ray Charles. This reason actually makes me feel far-fetched, but the performance and connection in the film is still commendable. The same lust is also another distinctive feature of Ray Charles. He likes women and constantly changes women around him, but on the contrary, he has a very important family concept, which will never destroy his family. These not-so-bright shortcomings actually did not affect the image of Rechas in the film, but made the character more plump.
The film described Ray Charles' strong and independent character a lot, and believed that it was this character that led him to success. It is true that a blind person can achieve such an extraordinary achievement in music by himself, no matter what, it is commendable. Ray Charles grew up in adversity all his life. He was blinded by glaucoma when he was 6 years old, and then went on his own after 15 years old and won everything. His life's success is inseparable from two women, his mother and his wife. His mother cultivated his independent ability, and his wife embraced all his mistakes with a broad mind and has been silently supporting him. The film also focuses on the influence and help these two women have on him.
As a biographical film that pays tribute to a musician, in addition to the comprehensive display of the character's personality, it is also necessary to integrate his music throughout the film. Ray Charles’s original music was in fact a pure imitation. He was talented but did not show it until he met Ahmet of Atlantic Records and he let Ray Charles start to make his own music completely. Ray Charles first learned jazz piano, and then began to incorporate his own style. Until his first single "I got a woman" came out, this song was called the first true black song, and boldly integrated into the gospel, it became a sensation. When Ray Charles's soul music voice that integrated rhythm and blues and gospel feel began to spread, his unique musical style began to take shape. Known as the father of soul music, he is actually not just a single style, he has dabbled in country, blues, soul, jazz, and Big Band music styles. Some of his famous songs have been reproduced in the film, such as "Opening My Heart", "I Can't Stop Loving You", "Georgia, My Love". In fact, the film has always meant to accompany Ray Charles’s life journey with famous songs from different eras. You can actually find that Ray Charles’s early works are obviously sexy, which is related to his coming from a black family at the bottom of society. , A boldness without taboos. However, it was this kind of out-of-the-ordinary music that matched the era that began to liberate individuality at that time, and it became very popular after it came out. The film also carried out a tour of the social and humanities of the time.
Characters are inseparable from characterization, which is also a common method in Hollywood biographical films. Sometimes a biographical film needs to magnify some of the characteristics of certain characters, so that he looks more different from ordinary people, and looks more similar. Different. Only such a film can make the characters more attractive, and make the audience have a deep impression of the protagonist. This is often done in previous Hollywood films, such as "Mozart", which makes this musical genius at least look neurotic and laugh for no reason. After all, geniuses are somewhat neurotic. Of course, you can add more imagination to a character with a little bit of history, because nothing can be verified, and for a modern character like Ray Charles, it is difficult to exaggerate him arbitrarily after all. After all, the audience has seen him. You can't play them like monkeys, otherwise there will be a lot of criticism. The actor must be as imaginative as possible when performing such a character, and the movie can only capture his characteristics and make it appear frequently. If "Thunder" is so successful, it is because of the wonderful interpretation of Jamie Fox. In fact, there is only one protagonist in this movie, and that is Jamie Fox. Even the heroine does not exist. One person propped up a play, Jamie Fox’s performance was completely in the realm of appearance and spirit, Ray Charles’ special singing gesture and accent, Jamie Fox perfectly showed him, no one doubted As he qualified for the Oscar winner.
The film needs highlights, and the characters also need to shine. As a great artist, Ray Charles's achievements in music are beyond doubt. But all of this has nothing to do with a person’s greatness or his character. So the film chose Ray Charles’ Georgia incident as a shining point, and was banned in his hometown of Georgia because of his anti-racism behavior. Through this struggle, he re-explained his principle of equality in life, and ended the film with his lifting of the ban at the end of the film, thus giving a powerful effect on the great personality of Ray Charles. Shaping, a shining person who can bear the word great.
I think the film's expression of Ray Charles is basically pertinent. Of course, it still needs some beautification, but it does not avoid the dark side. I don't want to comment on Ray Charles' personality. After all, a genius is still a mortal, and he will have any shortcomings. But I am full of respect for his music, an unforgettable worry and painful soul voice, an unrestrained and wild transcendence of the times, the revival of human nature, and his influence on the United States and the world pop music. Has stopped, we have been listening.
Text: Eyebrow Ruler
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